Book of Shadows. The Ditch. Yielding to Power.
Today, Wednesday February 12, at 8:54 am the Snow Moon waxed full.
02.12.2025. Snow Moon Full. 8:54 am.
During its final twist I dug into what it meant. From my vantage point it was impossible to see. I knew it was there.
During this cycle we pull the white blanket of snow over our heads. Snuggle down. We dream.
The full lunar event in the second month of the year signals a time of regeneration. The last quiet reflection before the Vernal energies spew a fountain of sap in every direction. Anticipating the energy of the juice, we take this quiet time to reflect, dream and plan.
The Snow Moon is a time of deep reflection. Buried under the blanket of white it’s time to sort seeds for spring sowing. Ready the manger for a vernal foal or a spring lamb. A time to design our garden. Look at gardens past and think.
As we learn to think of lunar cycles and consider ourselves a part of the natural world, we can glean from observation a great deal about ourselves. February is the last full month of winter. It’s a time when much of the northern hemisphere is still covered with snow. In many places, all a person can do beyond basic survival is to dream.
Meanwhile. Below the 40th parallel. There’s no blanket of white.
There’s an old saying: Florida has four seasons, early Summer, mid-Summer, late-Summer and February. If there is nasty weather in the sunshine state it is in February. Climate change has shifted the adage a bit uphill.
I took a three mile hike on Saturday. Cary State Forest, a favorite of mine. The mesic pine flat woods provide a labyrinth of well-maintained roads. I walk on them. No tripping over roots or sloshing through black mud. It was almost 80 degrees. No blanket of white here.
Cary State Forest Bryceville, Florida.
Cary State Forest is a beautifully maintained State Forest on the west side of Jacksonville, Florida. I’ve been hiking there for twenty years. I refer to this project as The Ditch. When I visit several living themes and metaphors come to mind.
First, the actively maintained forest is bisected by a massive power line. Concrete dolmens march a straight line on a built-up piece of land. The bar pit that was excavated flanks the power line. It’s not such a stretch to consider nature yielding to power. The ugliness of the power poles and their hard regular geometry is offset by the beautiful long leaf pine and palmetto lands.
I observe a system of carnivorous plants in the ditch. Butterwort, Hooded pitcher plant, and sundew and scattered along the margins of the ditch. In the water itself is Bladderwort, a sub-aquatic carnivore that feeds on larvae, blooms yellow and violet by early summer. With these botanical carnivores I think of the fatality of attraction.
Another metaphor that The Ditch prompts is the healing power of natural systems. The ever churned margins accept seeds from passers-by. Wading birds, wild pigs, and various other creatures deposit seeds. During the late spring Terrestrial orchids sprout and prosper in The Ditch.
Carnivores in The Ditch. 48”x60”. oil on canvas. 2014
Various images inspired by The Ditch.
What is the relationship between these images and the Snow Moon? As you know, the concept of Radical Naturalism has bugged me for the last decade and a half. Basically, it refers to gleaning important information about life from direct observation of nature as opposed to varied mythologies.
During the Snow Moon as I plan my garden for the year I think about projects past. I think of efforts that produced fruit and ones that failed. The snow moon days offer time to hone you skills and narrow your foci in order to make projects for 2025 successful.
Obviously, this year we are annoyed by the pounding of the wolf at our universal door. We can push that noise away as nothing more than a distraction. I shutter my windows and fill my moat in order to offer some sort of protection from the monsters and keep them at bay.
My energies are going forward. I’m planting a fresh garden in the disturbed soil and hoping for magical results.
First project of 2025 is to distribute my compilation of short fiction, Shantyboat Stories.
That project occupied premium space in my aging noggin for most of 2024. It rolls off the press Friday. Im expecting to have my hands on it by the end of February.
If you wish to pre-order the special collectors edition please click the link below. Here you have the option of ordering the book itself or the special collectors edition.
There will be an event early March for the special collectors. I have also scheduled an event for March 19,2025 at Emerald Station in Jacksonville. 6-9 pm. There will be a special reading and talk at 7 pm.
There will be an opportunity to pick up the books then and also purchase more. Various other items will be available there also. A great party for all.
Beyond this book I am sorting my seeds for the balance of the year. Ready to get back out to the wood and wonders of the great outdoors. I hope to continue writing and making art with a narrowed focus.
Let us all embrace the magic of the Snow Moon. Allow ourselves to be inspired by the most meager of circumstances. Find messages and metaphor in a muddy ditch on the outskirts of town. We owe it to ourselves to rise about the chaos of now. Create, learn, write stories, make art and put our energies to good. The monsters of the dark who have wormed their ways into our heads will disappear soon enough.
I am also excited about developing a podcast with my son, James. We have started playing with these conversations under the heading MOSSDRAWN and you may find them on this site. Bear with us as we find a voice.